Legacy: The Star Phoenix
by Infinity-R-Us
Summary: "Snikt! Weir galnced down at John's hand just as he retracted his claws. A single drop of blood fell to the floor." After days of sleeplessness, tension was rising on Atlantis and when everyone around you have mutant powers, keeping peace was impossible!
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: We don't own Stargate: Atlantis. _

_Note: Written by Meagra Solace, Diabolical Pink Bunny and Hubby. Hubby helped quite a bit with his knowledge of superpowers. The Terrorist was with us during the conception time (and we were roasting marshmallows), but TT slept – again. Silver Pixie and Smiley is at it again._

_This is Infinity's first foray into more serious fiction. Please let us know if it working for you, or if we should stick to crack. Remember: we'll do crack as well, we'd just like to branch out a bit._

**Chapter 1**

"Incoming wormhole!" Chuck announced. Elizabeth Weir hovered nearby, aware that her flag team was out on an extremely dangerous mission under undesirable circumstances. From the start she had been opposed to sending the four of them out with the unresolved tension between them.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Receiving SGA-1 IDC," the young man told her. She nearly sighed with relief.

"Lower the force field," she said. Moments later the first member of SGA-1 appeared. But not only did he appear: it was Rodney McKay; running. This had Elizabeth worried and she frowned. Rodney _never_ ran if he could help it. In fact, she could see the same tension in Chuck where he sat to her right.

"Rodney, what's wrong?" she asked as she ran forward. By the time she had reached the bottom of the stairs, Rodney was disappearing around the corner. The only thing she got from him was a shout over his shoulder: "Can't talk now!"

Dumbfounded Elizabeth stood in the middle of the gate room; looking around. Then the gate rippled and Ronon appeared. But this was a very different Ronon from the one she had come to know.

The big Satedan marched through the gate with a mixture of bloodlust, anger and disgust written on his face – or at least from what she could make out beneath the green goo dripping from it. His shoulders were hunched, almost as if he was trying to create some distance between himself and his dripping, gooey wings. These he held at an angle away from his body as the viscous liquid dripped off the ends. Every now and then he tried to open his wings, but they made a sticky sound which seemed to disgust him even more. Somehow Elizabeth suspected Rodney had something to do with the big man's appearance.

Behind Ronon – rather a long way behind him but with a clearly demarked space between the pilot and the Athosian – Teyla and John Sheppard walked through the gate. Behind them the wormhole shut down. One more time Elizabeth asked: "What happened?"

Again she was to be disappointed. The only thing John had to say was: "First, he needs a bath!" The three of them disappeared around the same corner as Rodney had moments ago and once more Elizabeth found herself alone in the gate room.

#####

_26hours ago..._

Rodney was lying on the floor of the lab; completely worn out. Radek Zelenka wasn't in much better shape, but because of his mercury physiology he could push himself just that little further. These past three days none of them had been able to get much sleep. The scientists had tried to enhance the long-range sensors, and though they had been successful in theory, the enhancement had caused widespread power-outings throughout the city. For three days now everyone – marine and scientist alike – had been running through the city in an attempt to contain damages. Already the marines disliked the scientists messing with the city, but when the days had heaped up along with the casualties, the marines had started blaming the scientists for it. The scientists – on the other hand – blamed the marines for short-sightedness and the inability to appreciate the fact that everything they did was in an attempt to better everyone's lives.

But finally they stopped all the gaps in the grid and had power up and running. In fact, not only had they contained the damage; they had also managed to keep the enhancements to the sensors.

"O-oh," Radek suddenly said.

On the floor Rodney put his arm over his eyes and muttered: "I don't even want to hear it."

But Radek wasn't to be put off. "You're going to want to hear this," he said without turning around. Finally Rodney had to admit defeat and he pushed up into a sitting position.

"Okay, what is it?" he asked ungraciously.

"I think you would want to take a look at this," Radek announced. So Rodney got up and went to stand next to Radek.

"Okay, what am I looking at?" Rodney asked, but it was mostly rhetorical. On the big sensor-screen he could clearly see a Wraith ship headed towards a planet at the outer reaches of the sensors' capabilities. "What planet is that?" Rodney added. By now Radek knew when Rodney was being rhetorical and when to answer. He answered the second question.

"The Genii," he told Rodney. Yes, Radek had been correct: he definitely had had to hear this.

#####

Rodney, Ronon, Teyla, John and Elizabeth were sitting around the big table in the conference room. Everyone was tired and everyone was just a little on edge.

"We have to help the Genii if we can," Teyla was saying. John turned to her.

"I think the Wraith can have the Genii," he drawled. Immediately Teyla's hackles rose. The Genii might have betrayed her and Atlantis, but she had been friends with them for far longer. Besides, they did have a tenuous alliance with the new Genii leader: Laden. "We will probably save their asses and they will just turn around and betray us when it is all over," the military commander of Atlantis told his teammate.

"Who are we to choose who lives and who dies?" Teyla diplomatically told him, but it was obvious that her patience was slipping.

"We're not _choosing_ who lives and who dies, we're simply allowing nature to take its course," John answered. "Besides," he added, "if it hadn't been for Rodney's new sensors, you wouldn't even know about it."

"Exactly!" Teyla triumphantly exclaimed. "What is the use of having the technology if we do not make use of the advantage it gives us?"

"Yes," John sneered. "But really, the Genii..?"

"We cannot save everyone from the Wraith," Ronon suddenly interjected. Slowly, her lips slightly parted, Teyla turned towards the big man.

"When had you started sanctioning anyone getting culled by the Wraith?" she asked him, confused.

Ronon played with the knife he had in his big hands for a moment before answering. "Since the Genii had betrayed us repeatedly," he answered. Teyla could not believe this. Of all the people she had counted on to take her side, Ronon had been the one she had thought would be first in line.

"I say we have to save the Genii," Rodney suddenly piped up. As one everyone looked over at him.

"You will save them?" Teyla asked; even more confused.

"Yes," Rodney answered. "They are the only source of nuclear weapons in the galaxy and besides us they are by far the strongest power out there against the Wraith." He looked around as if he thought his explanation was the _coup de grace_ that would end the discussion. Nobody was impressed.

"You would save them only for the technological advantage they can give you?" Teyla asked incredulously.

"At least I am on your side!" he said, looking injured.

"You do not care about the people, this is just about the science for you," she accused.

"Yes," Rodney suddenly said, his temper snapping. "The Genii are such nice people I would go out of my way to save them from the Wraith!" he told her; irony dripping from every word.

"People, please," Elizabeth suddenly interrupted the flaring tempers. "We still have..." she trailed off and looked at Rodney.

"Twenty hours," he told her.

"Twenty hours," she repeated as she looked around the room. "Until then I would suggest you go and find me some more options," she informed the group. "Dismissed," she added when it looked as if everyone would ignore her command. But in the end they got up and stormed out of the room.

#####

The lab was fraught with tension. Radek looked over the rim of his glasses at the young scientists huddled together. It was amazing how many of them were in their early twenties.

One of the younger men turned towards him. "Doctor Zelenka, you have to convince him that they have to save the Genii!" the young man begged him.

Radek lifted his head slightly. "No! If you want to talk to him about it, that is your responsibility!" he told the young man in particular and the group in general.

"But, Doctor!" one of the young women started. Then she fell silent and Radek could see the silence dropping over the entire group like a cloak. Slowly he turned around and looked at the door they were all staring at. In walked Rodney; freshly showered and a cup of coffee in his hand.

"So, Doctor McKay..." the big-eyed young woman asked. It always amazed Radek how oblivious Rodney was to the hero-worship of some of his younger colleagues. In fact, Rodney could probably have an affair with any one of them and they would feel honoured.

Rodney looked up and Radek saw the spark in his eyes. "What?" Rodney asked.

"Are we going to save the Genii?" the young woman asked the dreaded question. It has been almost three hours since the meeting, but they have not heard anything concerning the outcome.

Another spark lit Rodney's eyes for a moment. Then his temper visibly snapped. "You know, going to save the Genii will not be a team-effort that will include you! The lot of you will just sit around twiddling your thumbs. Instead it will be me going over to the Wraith ship and putting my life on the line! Then I will have to be the one that will need to come up with a plan to stop the ship and then, when I get back, nobody would even notice the work I've done. Instead the military goons will make snide comments and accusations, not show any appreciation!" He glared at the group of scientists. "Everyone expects miracles from me but you never take even a moment to consider the cost!"

In a huff the man turned around and stormed out of the door; back the way he had just come.

Again the scientific corpse turned towards Radek.

He looked at a table as he spoke; lifting his shoulders. "I guess we will not be going to help the Genii," he said. Then he turned and followed his friend.

"Rodney, wait," Radek called. Rodney waited and the Czech caught up to his friend. As he drew level, Radek glared at Rodney. "You know, you do not need to always be mean to them."

Rodney glared at his friend and suddenly Radek wondered if that was the description that described their relationship. "The day they are willing to put their lives on the line will be the day I might treat them as equals."

Meanwhile John was having as bad a time with the marines as Rodney had with the scientists. He had taken them on a run through the city, but every now and then one of them would jog up next to him and always they had the same question: _we're not really thinking of saving the _Genii? _Are we_?

When they reached the long bridge John usually ran with Ronon, he finally snapped. And because he had been training with Ronon he was in much better condition than the average marine. So he decided to teach them a lesson. Because the bridge was so narrow, they could only pass two abreast at a time. But with a sudden spurt of energy he pulled away from the group. Within seconds he had left them behind – especially as they were still trying to decide what to do about the situation.

Minutes later John stopped for breath and decided to wait for the struggling marines. When they reached him only half a minute later, he had already caught his breath. Usually this stunt would have left him in a better mood, but today this only left him feeling more irritated: especially as he had thought he had left them further behind than just a few seconds. And in an attempt to purge his irritation, he sent the entire squad on another run while he stalked off to the mess hall for a nice slice of pie and a cool drink.

#####

As days went, this day was more 'stalking by' day than a 'flying by' day. And as with most 'stalking by' days, this one still had a number of unwelcome surprises up its sleeve. If this day had been a person it would have been one of those men in coats – and nothing else – standing on the street corner and first offering you stolen items and then flashing you when you refuse to buy any.

This day was a disaster.

The next surprise was announced in the familiar tone of Chuck in a half-panic: "Unscheduled off-world activation!"

"Who is it?" Elizabeth asked. By this time she was starting to feel like a broken bearing. Everyone around her had chosen sides and had left her in the middle carrying more weight than she had the energy for after this past week.

"Oh, it is the SGC!" Chuck almost sighed with relief. But his relief was her tension. Earth never contacted them outside the normal times unless there was an emergency. That was the first way you knew it was an emergency.

"They sent us an encrypted file," Chuck continued. Elizabeth nodded.

"Send it to my laptop," she told him, already heading for her office.

Half an hour later she sat back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. John and Rodney had just left her office and the meeting she had had with them had not gone as well as she had hoped, but better than she had feared. At least nobody got hurt and nothing had been broken.

The message from earth had been the IOA informing Elizabeth to stop stalling and send a team to save the Genii. The reasons stated had sounded much like those given by Rodney earlier – a fact not lost on John. Immediately after hearing them, he had turned and accused Rodney of sending the message behind his back. Fortunately Elizabeth had been expecting this and was able to inform her military leader that the person that had sent it had been Kavanagh. John was still pissed at Rodney about it, but that probably saved the other man from a trip to the infirmary. As it was Rodney had sparked at the accusation and Elizabeth had briefly wondered who would win in an all-out fight between the two of them. She sincerely hoped she never had to find out.

She was still rubbing her eyes when the next crisis arose. Without thinking she leapt up and ran out of her office. Outside there was screaming and she could recognize two of the voices. One was that of John, the other sounded like Major Lorne. A third voice tried to overrule the other two and as she leapt down the stairs she recognized it as belonging to Colonel Caldwell of the _Daedalus_. Obviously he had just beamed down from his ship and had caught her people just as John and Rodney had been leaving her office. Where Lorne had come from she was not sure, but he seemed as angry as Sheppard.

"What's this?" she asked; keeping a tight rein on her anger and shoving her tiredness deep down behind concern, relief and abused diplomacy.

"Doctor Weir," Caldwell said in that overbearing superiority of his. "I have been asked to ensure you carry out the orders given by the IOA as well as informing you I will be leading this expedition," he said as he handed her a folder.

She looked over at John and Lorne. No wonder they were angry.

"I do not remember that being part of the orders relayed half an hour ago," she told Caldwell as she scanned the file. "Nor does it say anything about you leading the mission in this file," she added.

He glared at her and she decided she was not up to a face-off today. She knew if she tried she would win, but she was tired and irritated and wound too tight for it. If it came to a face-off she just might say something she was going to regret later.

As she stood thinking – seeing as she needed to resolve this quickly – Elizabeth heard the unique and familiar _snikt_ as John slowly unsheathed his claws. She glanced over at him and saw the unmistakable glint on his adamantium claws. A single drop of blood fell to the floor as the blades slowly retracted again. Fortunately it seemed Caldwell had not recognised the sound. Perhaps she was more attuned to it than most after all these years.

"Look, Colonel Caldwell," she said as she intentionally stepped in front of John. She hoped John got his temper under control soon. "Ever since the Wraith had caught onto the fact that we sneak on board their ships using a cloaked puddle jumper, they have been guarding the docking bays. It is getting to be almost impossible to sneak onto – and especially off of – a Wraith ship. We will need you and the _Daedalus_ to be ready to extract our team if anything goes wrong. In fact," she added, hoping her quick lie will work, "it would be best if you could drop my team" she stressed the '_my'_ "off on the Wraith ship."

Caldwell glared at her, but as Lorne slowly reached up and fiddled with the beads he carried around his neck, the Colonel backed off. Caldwell was not powerful enough to win even against the Major.

"Very well," he conceded. "We will leave within the hour." With that he tapped his earpiece and seconds later disappeared in a flash of light.

Elizabeth sighed. She really wished this day would end. And didn't Caldwell realise her people needed sleep before going to play with the Wraith?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

There was the annoying sound of a metal chair being dragged over the floor as Rodney's magnetic field expanded. This was followed by a curse and a _pzzzt_ sound. In its turn this was followed by the stench of fried circuits, another curse and finally the sound of something breakable crashing. Radek sighed. This was a scene that had been playing off for nearly two hours now.

Radek lowered his head onto his arms. Rodney had returned from the Wraith ship in a bad mood. Not even a chocolate brownie and a cup of coffee had helped. And this bad mood was the cause for the random destruction of the laptops Rodney was working on. In his irritation his magnetic ability flared every now and then; causing him to wipe the hard drive on the laptop. Hence the first bout of curses.

After wiping the laptop and losing all the work he had been doing for a while, Rodney flared his electrical power in frustration. This caused the laptop to die a painful and instant death in a shower of electrical circuits being burnt out. This caused the second bout of curses, after which Rodney flung the destroyed laptop over his shoulder onto the growing pile of wrecked laptops.

A soft murmur made Radek look up. Miko and Simpson were standing some way off; urgently whispering to one another. They were 'rock/paper/scissoring' about who would be the one to take the new laptop to Rodney. Miko had super-speed and Simpson was a teleport – the only two qualified to get near their boss at the moment. Finally it seemed they reached some sort of conclusion and with lightning speed Miko picked up a new laptop, flashed over to where Rodney was still cursing and dumped it in front of him. In a single bound the woman was back where she had started from: again eyeing Rodney from a safe distance.

Radek knew this scene was about to be replayed indefinitely unless somebody did something about it. He also had the nasty suspicion it was going to have to be him.

Just then the door opened and one of the younger scientists bound in. "Colonel Sheppard is on his way!" he announced breathlessly. "I think he is angry about the backwash in the desalination tank!"

This announcement was followed by a moment of quiet. Then Rodney leapt up.

"I will do it!" he told everyone.

Even more than the news of John approaching, this news of Rodney volunteering to demean himself with fixing the desalination tanks had the lab bathed in astonished silence. Radek slowly inched over to where the head of the science department was gathering his equipment.

"What's wrong with you?" Radek asked.

"Nothing you would understand," Rodney spat.

"Look, we're all worried about you and..."

Unfortunately Radek never got any further than that. In a sudden burst of annoyance Rodney zapped him. It wasn't the first time Rodney had zapped Radek, but never before had it been this strong. Whereas a small jolt of electricity only made Radek ripple slightly, this jolt was big enough to cause the Czech to completely loose cohesion. It seemed the lights went out as Radek lost the ability to see (one needed eyes for that, and when he was completely liquefied he had no eyes to see with) as well s all sense of time.

By the time Radek had pulled himself together (literally), Rodney had gone. The Czech looked around. Everyone was staring at him with big eyes, including John Sheppard.

"Wow, you make a nice puddle of quicksilver," John remarked.

#####

"What were you thinking?" Elizabeth demanded tiredly. Rodney glared back at her. About half an hour ago John had come to Elizabeth with the news that Rodney had reduced Radek into his base form. In a city with some spectacular powers, Radek had the one that could cause him the most harm. Though the Czech could shift into the most amazing shapes, the touch of electricity could reduce him to a puddle of organic mercury. If the jolt was sufficient it could take hours for him to restore his human shape.

"He annoyed me," the Canadian snapped. "Besides, wasn't it just a bit childish of Sheppard to tattle on me?"

Actually Elizabeth agreed, but she was glad John had told her. "And zapping Doctor Zelenka wasn't childish?" she asked in return.

Rodney glared at her. She often wondered why they sometimes felt the need to keep pushing and scratching at things. It was nearing four days since she has had a decent amount of sleep and she was as tired as the rest of them. In fact, she had been on her way to bed when John had come to her with the tale of Rodney zapping Radek.

She used one hand to rub her eyes for a moment. "Look, just go to bed and get some sleep, okay?" she wearily told Rodney. In fact she was almost willing to beg him to go away just so she could get some sleep as well.

Rodney grunted heavily and stalked from the office. She sighed, but at least now she could get some sleep.

#####

_10hours ago..._

The _Daedalus_ dropped out of hyperspace. John, Teyla, Ronon and Rodney stood together on the bridge and waited for the ship to crawl in a little closer to the Wraith hive ship. Moments later they felt the strange tingle as they were beamed onto the enemy vessel.

The moment the four of them were reassembled they looked at one another for a second. Actually none of them has had the time to plan anything and they were still furious at one another. Then, as one, they turned their backs on each other and stalked off in different directions. Rodney went in search of the command deck and Teyla went straight for the dart bay. John and Ronon ended up stalking off in the same direction – just too bad neither of them knew where they were going. They were just stalking off.

John unsheathed the claws in his right hand. In his other hand he held the P-90 to light his way. It wasn't really as if he intended on using the gun. With his regenerative powers he healed almost instantly and he was scheming for a fight with a Wraith – or two. He could almost feel the urge to make sushi out of a Wraith bubbling up in him. He might have hated the adamantium skeleton the military had blackmailed him into, but at times like these he loved the sting of his claws cutting through his skin. The cuts would heal, but not before he had done some serious damage to the Wraith.

Idly he now ambled down the corridor, his right hand dragging against the wall. This was a Wraith ship and like all Wraith ships the walls were made of an organic substance that parted like skin beneath his sharp claws. At a few junctions he sliced an 'S' into the wall. (Before encountering the Wraith it had been a 'J' he had cut into walls, but with the Wraith ships this just looked stupid. The big slice of wall cut loose between the top bar of the capital 'J' and the vertical bar only created a nice floppy bit on the curly side. He really didn't like the idea of the Wraith gathering around his calling-card and thinking '_What's with this strange floppy part?'_ Then again, he had had to practice making the 'S' as well, for if the 'S' is too rounded one ended up with _two_ floppy parts.)

Behind him strolled Ronon. He was holding both guns in front of him and was slowly getting annoyed at the layout of the Wraith ship. These corridors were too narrow for him to fly in. In fact, every now and then he tried opening his wings, but he could only get them open halfway before encountering the walls on either side. He grunted in frustration. Like John he was scheming for a fight.

Meanwhile Teyla had found the dart bay and was happily causing major destruction. Her eyes glowed white as she drew on her powers to control the weather. Even in an atmosphere as small as that on a Wraith ship there was enough air for her to cause a localized tornado. Rising into the air she spread her arms and picked up the first dart in her tornado. Then she expanded her storm and lifted another, and another... This was a better way of getting rid of frustrations than even meditation.

Of the group only Rodney was having some trouble. He was a genius, granted. But these Wraith ships were never the same on the inside! Only five minutes out and he was lost.

John and Ronon turned a corner and skidded to a halt.

"How did we manage this?" John asked Ronon from the side of his mouth. Ronon grinned and John was glad he wasn't the target of that smile. The two of them had found – purely by accident – the Wraith queen's hall.

"I don't care, but I'm glad we did," Ronon answered. He spread his wings in the huge chamber and walked forward; guns held in front of him.

"What are you doing here, you insignificant beings?" the queen demanded. Being surprised wasn't something Wraith queens did well. On both sides of her stood a number of soldiers – those with the nice coats.

"Prepare to die!" Ronon told the queen as he spread his wings fully. John stood behind him, but he knew what Ronon looked like from the front: an avenging angel kicked from heaven and a chip on his shoulder. In short: very intimidating.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

It has been almost four days since John has had a decent night's sleep and only a little while ago he had thought he would finally be able to go to bed. Of course, after that stunt on the Wraith ship he had also needed a shower. Unfortunately he had been halfway through it when the water had suddenly run out – the desalination tank. The thing had been one of the systems that had gone offline during the power outings this week.

Tired, itchy (wiping soap off was not nearly as effective as rinsing) and irritated John decided he needed to relieve some pent-up frustration. Besides, he needed to kill some time until the desalination tanks are back online and the water heated. There was no way he would be able to go to bed with this itchy body of his.

As luck, fortune or fate would have it, when he entered the gym he found Major Evan Lorne there. John had no idea why the younger man was in the gym, but minutes later he had bullied the Major into a hand-to-hand fight. Usually it would be called a sparring match – John wasn't in the mood for niceties, though.

The first round went to Lorne: the young man has had some sleep while John and SGA-1 had been on the Wraith hive ship and easily beat John at a fair fight. This, of course, did not sit well with someone as irritated as John. That was why in the next round John took the fight to the next level. _Snikt_! The claws on both hands slid out. They were actually three super-sharp adamantium blades about 12 inches (30cm) on each hand that retracted onto his arms at will. Using them meant having them cut through flesh and skin, but once they're out the pain subsided to a dull ache. Training with them had always been a problem, as one swipe of the blades usually disembowelled, beheaded and destroyed anyone or anything he was using it on. But not Evan Lorne. Lorne was one of the few people that could withstand a direct attack from John.

Quite a number of Atlanteans (not all, though) had mutant abilities. Lorne's was the ability to turn into any kind of substance he touched. That was why he wore a necklace of different kinds of beads around his neck – every bead was of a different substance and he only had to touch one to turn into that substance. When he saw John unsheathe his claws, the young man smiled and immediately reached for his trinium/naquadah alloy bead. Half a heartbeat later he had turned into living metal.

By now both were grinning, but they weren't nice grins. They were the type of grins usually associated with the grim reaper.

For thirty minutes they sparred, striking numerous sparks as John's blades scraped along Lorne's body. A number of times John was sent flying across the gym as living metal connected with flesh. Normally such blows would kill a person, but John recovered in seconds. It was after one of these blows that John returned to the fight like a raging maniac and punched Lorne with his right fist – claws first.

Moments later the two of them realised this might have been a mistake. While powered up, the blades stuck in Lorne was just an annoyance. Should he power down the blades would kill him. But because he can't power down, John could not get the claws out of him. At one stage John had both feet planted squarely on Lorne's chest for leverage, but the blades wouldn't budge.

"Oh, damn it!" John growled. He gave another light tug, but it was more in annoyance than anything else.

"I think we're going to need some help," Lorne said in a gravelly voice.

Ten minutes later – after quite an amount of manoeuvring – John and Lorne were seated on a bed in the infirmary. Carson was frowning at them while poking at the place on Lorne's chest where the blades had gone in.

"And what were you thinking?" the doctor asked them. Behind Carson Jennifer Keller stood grinning.

"Thought wasn't what we had in mind," John replied.

"Yes, I can see that," Carson said. "I can't even amputate the claws as this will still leave at least five inches of steel inside Lorne," he explained the quandary. "Again, what were you thinking?" Carson repeated. He seemed to be getting truly irritated at them. The first sign of this was that Carson was getting bigger.

"Look, can't you just remove it?" Lorne asked.

"No, I can't just bloody well remove it!" Carson exclaimed. By now the doctor was at least twice his normal size and getting hairy. "I'm a doctor, not a blacksmith!" he growled. With the changes his voice always got deeper and rougher as well.

But at least he had to try and moments later John and Carson were both pulling in one direction while Lorne pulled in another. By now Carson was completely powered up and looked quite a bit like a blue Carebear: a blue Carebear on steroids, that is. With claws.

The next moment John's claws slid losse with the sound of grating steel. Underneath that sound was that of ripping cloth as Carson burst out the seams of his pants. There was also the sound of flesh connecting with flesh. The recoil of John's blades ripping free from Lorne had caused John to hit Carson hard enough to send the Doctor sprawling. As the more primitive beast-brain of Carson took over, the man growled at John and with a mighty leap landed in the upper corner of the wall next to the ceiling. John and Lorne looked up.

"Oh, crap," Lorne exclaimed.

#####

Elizabeth had just fallen asleep when the call came from Jennifer. Apparently John and Lorne had been admitted to the infirmary under suspicious circumstances and they needed Elizabeth's presence.

"I'll be right there," Elizabeth sighed. With eyes that didn't want to stay open she peered at herself in the mirror. Her hair wasn't in too bad shape and se was able to straighten it by pulling her fingers through it. Then she grabbed her night gown and slid her feet into her shoes. What was wrong with John? She just _knew_ he had been the one to instigate this situation.

Sleepily she padded down the corridor and down the stairs. It was only as she passed one of those water features and saw her own reflection that she realised she might have been a bit hasty in her choice of clothes. The sight of her almost-naked legs and pink bunny slippers brought her fully awake. She looked down at herself. She had been wearing her comfortable boxers and tank-top when she had crawled into bed. The gown she had grabbed wasn't the one she had planned on taking, though, but the one Simon Wallis had given her years ago – the sexy black one that had been a Valentine's present. The shoes she had thought she had put on were actually the pink bunny slippers her mom had given her on her birthday a few months ago. It had floppy pink ears.

Oh, and another thing about the gown: it was mostly lace.

She considered turning back and getting another gown, but then she heard a growl she recognized as belonging to the powered-up Carson. Adrenaline boosted her as she ran towards the infirmary. She skidded to a halt just as Lorne exclaimed: "Oh, crap!"

Elizabeth looked around at the rather peculiar group assembled in the infirmary. On the bed nearest the door sat John and Lorne. The bed's legs were bent and both men looked kind of sheepish. Behind them stood Jennifer Keller, blushed deep red and looking at her feet. Now that Elizabeth thought about it, John and Evan were both turned away from something as well. By one wall was a row of beaten-up marines on beds. Most of them were holding an icepack to certain parts of their anatomy and those still able to see had their heads very specifically turned away from one corner of the infirmary.

Dreading what she would find, she looked up at the corner everyone was avoiding.

Elizabeth was completely aware that this was one of those moments that would define her leadership abilities. She also knew she was going to fail miserably. Fortunately she was too tired to care. She blushed slightly and looked away; catching Jennifer's eye. Together they blushed even more.

"Doctor Beckett," she said in her most formal tone, "I think you're hanging out." Jennifer giggled slightly.

Moments later an embarrassed Carson had gotten down from the ceiling and was standing in the corner. His hands were covering the bits that had become exposed after he had torn his pants. Well, that was one question answered: when Carson turned blue (a nice light blue) _everything_ turned blue. Oh, well...

"Sorry, lass," he growled. He disappeared through a door and the tension level in the room dropped noticeably. Elizabeth looked around at the people still in the infirmary. The marines in the far corner looked away and Jennifer seemed to disappear. Elizabeth glared at John and Lorne.

"I know we're all a little edgy, but was this really necessary?" she demanded.

"No, ma'am," Lorne said, but his heart wasn't in it. Obviously he thought a trip to the infirmary had just been a slight diversion. She sometimes hated mutants.

She rubbed her eyes and then looked at John. "You are the military leader; you should be more responsible than this."

She glared at John, but she quickly realised he wasn't paying attention. Following his gaze she realised why not: he was staring. And this time he was not staring _away_ from Carson, but instead he was staring _at_ her legs. She needn't glance down to know just how much leg she was showing. A conversation she had overheard a while ago (and really, it had been by accident) suddenly popped into her thoughts. It had been John and Rodney, discussing what types of man they were, as in: John was a legs-man and Rodney a blondes-and-ass-man.

"John!" she snapped.

"Yes?" he said, looking back up at her face. But his eyes had taken a slow journey to get there.

She sighed. "Next time, keep the claws sheathed, okay?"

#####

_97minutes earlier..._

Ronon charged his weapons, his grin widening. He could see the fear in the queen's eyes. His wings glistened in the light.

They actually heard the sound rushing at them. It sounded like an explosion in reverse, with a slurping sound mixed in. Half a moment later the wall behind the queen and her minions – and in front of Ronon – exploded. Greenish goo engulfed Ronon and a single voice called out from a long way away: "Hey, John, which way is the control room?"

#####

Rodney finally had to admit he was lost. He knew direction wasn't his strong suit, but he had never been _this_ lost before.

He turned another corner that definitely did not lead to the control room. Damn. He glanced down at his life-sign detector, but it wasn't helping. Finally his temper snapped. Okay, if this was the way the Wraith wanted it to be, so be it!

He stashed the LSD in his pocket, took a deep breath and powered up. Blue lightning started in his neck and crackled down his arms. He brought his hands together and waited a second for the charge to build. Soon the buzzing turned into a roar and he discharged the lightning at a wall. The blue lightning exploded through the wall and continued blowing holes in a neat row of man-sized gaps. Finally it stopped with a last loud pop.

Slowly Rodney stepped forward. At the far end of the series of holes stood Ronon. He seemed to be covered in something. From behind him peered John. "Hey, John," Rodney called, highly irritated. "Which way is the control room?"

It was only then that Rodney noticed the Wraith queen and her minions sprawled on the floor. She was getting up slowly and turning around. A new whine joined the sounds already emanating from the engines of the ship. Meanwhile Ronon was dripping goo. For some reason he still had his weapons ready in front of him, even though the Wraith queen was no longer in his line of fire.

"What's wrong with Ronon?" Rodney yelled. He was kind of impressed at how many walls he had been able to destroy in one go.

"I. Will. Kill. You!" Ronon roared and Rodney suddenly realised the Satedan wasn't talking to the Wraith queen. He also suddenly realised the big man was looking at him.

"What did I do?" Rodney yelled back. But it was the queen that answered. Idly she wiped a lock of goo-covered hair out of her face. It wasn't really an improvement.

"You destroyed the thruster drive. The hive is losing orbit," she coldly told him.

"Oh," Rodney said. And then suddenly _everything_ snapped into place. He suddenly realised what the power signature was he had been chasing for hours, as well as what had gooed everyone in the queen's chambers as well as why Ronon was angry at him. He also realised what losing orbit implied. Ignoring Ronon he tapped his earpiece.

"Teyla!" he yelled.

_What did you do?_ She asked over the com line. Really, why did everyone assume it was always his fault? This time it had been, but seriously!

"Teyla, we have to get out of here!" he yelled again. He looked at John and Ronon as he spoke into his earpiece. "Where are you?" Before she could answer, he took out his LSD and looked at the signals. One of them was much bigger than the rest. He would bet it was Teyla and it appeared she was just behind him.

_In the dart bay, _she answered. Rodney turned around and after a moment he fired another – much smaller – burst at the wall behind him. The hole opened into the dart bay.

"There you are!" he exclaimed.

A roar behind him drew his attention and he just had time to see an enraged Ronon hurtling towards him. Instantly he put up his electro-magnetic force-field. The big man bounced off the shield. Right behind him John came running.

"We have to get out of here!" their leader yelled.

"No, really!" Rodney snidely remarked. But the force-field had given him an idea. "Okay, get behind me!" he yelled as he turned to face down the corridor. Behind him Teyla, John and Ronon gathered. He knew no matter how angry the big Satedan was, he would curb his anger until they were safely off the ship.

When he was sure everyone was behind him, he charged his energy pulse. As he discharged the pulse he put up the force-field around them. "Teyla, we need more inertia!" he yelled at her. For a moment he dropped the back side of the force-field even as the gap in the outside of the ship dragged at them. Teyla increased this pull and moments later the four them went hurtling into space; the only thing between them and certain death the invisible shield he was generating.

It took surprisingly longer than expected to reach the beginning of the atmosphere. Rodney just hoped they had enough speed to penetrate it and not bounce off.

About twenty minutes later they had passed through the upper atmosphere and they had entered the breathable lower air. Rodney's mind was working fast. Ronon was not the forgiving type – at least not immediately. The big warrior would probably still try and hurt him the moment they touched ground. Besides, Rodney was nearing the end of his strength after the blasts on the ship and maintaining the shield through the atmosphere while expanding it enough to encompass four people.

So instead of dropping them all off near the gate, Rodney left his passengers a good mile away. Without stopping he sped off on a strong burst of power, pushing against his teammates' metal gear. Seconds later he was at the gate and frantically dialling. Behind him he heard the roar as Ronon picked himself off the ground. The sound of immense wings beating at the air had his blood turning cold. Ronon would not be able to fly with his gooey wings, but the sound was still disturbing.

Then the gate opened and he punched in his IDC even as he ran at the event horison. Time got suspended as the wormhole closed around him. Then he popped out the other side at a dead run.

"Rodney, what's wrong?" Elizabeth was asking as she came running down the flight of stairs. But Rodney had no time to explain: he needed to hide until Ronon had calmed down. As he ran for cover he shouted over his shoulder: "Can't talk now!"

Perhaps he could hide in one of those creepy labs for a while.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

After leaving the infirmary, John had only one thing on his mind: getting something cold to drink! Usually it would have been a cold shower, but as he didn't know when the tanks would be up and running again, a cold drink would have to be it.

As John walked into the mess, Rodney was just leaving. For a moment the two of them stood staring at one another. Then John pushed past Rodney in an attempt not to hit the man.

"Oh, that's very grown up of you!" the scientist sneered, turning in John's direction. The man took a sip of his coffee as John turned on him. John could feel the sting in his hands as his claws itched to pop out.

"Oh, really," John sneered. "And who made you such an expert at being grown up?" he demanded.

"At least I acknowledge the things my friends do for me!" Rodney sneered.

John sniggered. "You _never_ acknowledge _anyone's_ efforts but your own!"

At about this time Rodney had snapped. It wasn't that the fight was particularly intense, but they had been up for nearly four days, they had been suspended in space and had been angry at one another for a long while now. The pressure that had been building finally exploded.

So Rodney zapped John. Fortunately John still had his claws retracted and the jolt was nothing more than a small irritation. But in return John unsheathed a single blade and punctured the bottom of Rodney's mug; spilling coffee all over the man.

This time Rodney used his magnetic powers and flipped John over. The other man landed with a thud on one of the tables in the mess hall.

"Enough!" a new voice interrupted. The two of them looked over to where an irate Elizabeth stood glaring at them.

"How did you get here so fast?" John asked.

#####

"Doctor Weir, you'd better get out there fast!" a voice said next to her ear while someone shook her. Elizabeth opened her eyes and saw Major Anne Teldy standing next to her bed, already holding her uniform out to her.

"What is it this time?" Elizabeth asked wearily as she quickly got dressed. Today was not the time to berate Anne for walking into her room uninvited.

"It's Colonel Sheppard and Doctor McKay, ma'am," she announced. Seconds later Elizabeth was dressed and Anne took her hand. Elizabeth closed her eyes in anticipation of what was to follow. She really wondered how this power did not freak the young woman out completely.

Seconds later they were in the mess hall. The room was only two rooms removed from her own and therefore it had been Anne that had come to fetch her. Elizabeth was also happy it _had been_ only two rooms and therefore only two walls the young woman had dragged her through. Anne and anything she was holding on to could phase through any solid object except naquadah.

Elizabeth hated seeing the wall pass through her skull, though. She opened her eyes at the sound of something heavy dropping. It was John. The only person on Atlantis capable of doing something like that would be Rodney.

"Enough!" she barked. John got up from the table, wincing once.

"How did you get here so fast?" he asked. She glanced over at Anne. She nodded once and the striking woman dropped through the floor to the level below. Smart lady, Elizabeth thought.

"Will you join me in my office?" Elizabeth asked the two men. As she turned she saw everyone in the mess hall hard at work listening without appearing to do so.

A minute later – taking more conventional means – the three of them were back in her office.

"The two of you should be ashamed of yourselves!" she told them as she sank into her chair. "Between the two of you, you represent the whole of Atlantis! The head of science and the military commander! But instead I get childish bickering and fighting!"

"We didn't really..." John began. She interrupted.

"No! If I can't trust the two of you, who can I trust?" she demanded. "I know you are tired and frustrated, but you know we cannot resort to violence in the city. And you definitely can't stoop to abusing your powers in front of your subordinates. I didn't say anything while you were doing it in private, but this is taking it too far!"

"You don't know anything about it," Rodney sneered. Without another glance he turned and started walking out the door.

"McKay!" she called. The man turned around; furious.

"You sit here in your office all day while we are the ones running around getting shot at!" he yelled at her.

"Don't you take that tone with Doctor Weir!" John growled at Rodney. Oh, great, _now_ he had a sense of honour! Once more Rodney spun around and marched out the door. John followed and she could hear the two of them continuing their fight. Why wouldn't they listen to her?

She dropped her head in her arms. She really ought to go after them and finish this discussion, but she was just so tired!

She must have dozed off for a few seconds, for suddenly she heard the unmistakable sound of thunder shaking the walls of her office. What now?

Within second Elizabeth was outside; standing at the top of the stairs. To her right was John, yelling at Rodney that stood across from him to her left. Chuck was yelling at Rodney because he was flaring his magnetic power enough to shift anything metal across the floor. The force was more like a tide though, and Chuck was caught in the ebb and flow of it. He looked slightly green in the face.

John, on the other hand, was methodically ruining the banister as he swiped in anger at the city itself.

Unfortunately this was not the extent of the scene played out in the gate room. Up above near the ceiling were Teyla and Ronon. Teyla was in full weather-goddess mode and crackled as energy surrounded her. It had probably been she that had caused the lightning that had woken Elizabeth. Teyla and Ronon were yelling at each other about loyalty.

On the floor in front of the gate was a large group of people yelling at one another. Most had probably followed them from the mess hall, but now tempers had flared here. She looked over at where Heightmeyer stood. It was probably Heightmayer, a projecting empathy, that had finally pushed Atlantis over the edge. Elizabeth was sure the woman must have been picking up on the tension for days now and had finally lost control. The rest of Atlantis was probably in as much of a mess as this room.

Next to Heightmeyer stood Kavanagh. He had the most useless power of all: he glowed in the dark when annoyed. And of course the energy of his glowing abilities sent his hair to fend for themselves. As the man was wearing his hair back in a ponytail, this caused him to have a little localised Afro at the back of his head.

Another pair yelling at one another was Jennifer Keller and Carson Beckett. Then there was Caldwell (where did he come from?) who was yelling at no-one in particular. Fortunately he had no powers. Elizabeth could also make out Lorne, Anne Teldy, Radek and Simpson yelling at one another. Probably the marines were on one side, the scientists on the other. Or men against women: it was difficult to tell at this stage. The rest of them seemed to just yell at one another randomly.

Finally Elizabeth allowed herself to be carried along on the waves of emotion coming from Heightmeyer. She has had enough. Her city could not sustain this amount of negative emotions much longer. Her city had to return to its normal state of busy serenity. And instead of being drowned in the waves of emotion, she used them to work for her.

She lowered her head and felt the waves course through her. She slowly lifted off the floor as she felt her own power being unleashed. She always kept it so tightly reined it almost felt at times she was being smothered. But now she set it free – carefully with a relieved sigh.

The shadow of flames started at her feet and hands and slowly ran to her centre like water. By now she was about a foot off the ground and the flames were being focussed around her heart. She felt it spreading behind her and she knew from experience it would form the suggestion of wings behind her in a play between light and shadow.

The wings spread and with one final, powerful thrust she opened them fully as she lifted her head. The same moment she expanded her power outwards along with her hands. "Enough!" she said. She hardly spoke above a whisper, but the sound carried all the way on the fire of her power.

She felt the heartbeat of every person on Atlantis as she held them in the grip of her power. She looked out over the people in the gate room. A few tried to fight her, but she was far more powerful than any one of them.

Elizabeth slowly pulled Heightmeyer in front of her. "Calm down," she told the woman. Already a part of her mind reached out and soothed Kate Heightmeyer's troubled emotions. When that factor was taken care of, she let the woman go. Then she reached out and dropped SGA-1 in front of her on the gate room floor. Slowly she brought all the rest of them – _all_ of them – to the gate room and lined them up in front of her. She could feel the flames of her power surrounding her and bathing her in its glow.

"Now," she calmly said. "All of you stop your nonsense. The next person to do anything I disapprove of will be tossed in the brig!" She smiled slowly. "Or I can always dump you in the ocean to cool off," she added, although she knew she would never stoop so low. She took a deep breath. "I expect all of you to go to bed and get some sleep." She loosened her hold on them slightly. "Do you understand?" she demanded. As one the people in front of her nodded. "Good," she said and let them go.

Unfortunately, as she leashed her power, her strength gave out as well. Like a brick she dropped to the floor. Wearily she staggered and nearly collapsed. But just before her legs gave out SGA-1 was there. She felt arms picking her up as the worried faces of Rodney, Teyla and Ronon moved into her view. As she was lifted she saw it was John holding her.

Without another word the four of them turned around and carried Elizabeth out of the control room. Slowly and silently they proceeded to her room. Rodney opened the door and the team – united again – carried their leader in and placed her on the bed. It was Teyla that removed the uniform she had on over her pajamas as the men waited outside. Then the Athosian woman covered her with the blanket and walked outside to the rest of her team.

And as Elizabeth finally drifted off to sleep she heard Rodney say: "You know, we really have to stop forgetting why she is in charge of this mission."

**The end**

_Author's note: We really did it! And in only four chapters! We know Infinity usually do crack, We have been playing around with a number of ideas for serious stories, but we are not sure how our fans would respond. Would you please let us know? And in particular we have some ideas about this universe and if you like it we will come back to it._

_To Insanity and Beyond!_

_(Oh, and you can follow us on our livejournal page. The link is posted on our profile.)_


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